The present invention concerns improvements relating to connection devices and particularly, though not exclusively, to improvements relating to devices for connecting cladding panels to a framework to form demountable partitioning such as that which is described in European Patent No. EP-B-0 521 891 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,245,448.
European Patent No. EP-B-0 521 891 describes a connector for releasably hooking a plasterboard panel onto a support skeleton in order to form a demountable partition. The connector comprises a generally planar base plate attached to the panel by way of a plurality of gang nails which have been punched out of a central section of the base plate. The end portions of the base plate are pressed out into channel defining formations (louvres) which are adapted to engage with and secure an L-shaped hook member. One arm of the hook member is a hook arranged to releasably hook over part of the support skeleton, and the other arm includes a pair of mutually opposed tongues for engaging the channel defining louvres of the base plate.
In practice, the base plates are secured to the plasterboard panel prior to on-site assembly of the demountable partitioning. The panels are then transported to the site where the assembly is completed by connecting the hook members to each of the corresponding base plates and mounting the panel to the framework via the connectors.
The present invention relates to an improved connector from that described hereinabove and has several significant advantages over the prior art connectors.
According to a broad aspect of the present invention there is provided a unitary connector comprising a base plate means located on the base plate for engaging a planar surface and a hook member for engaging a support framework characterized in that the hook member is hingedly connected to the base plate.
In one preferred embodiment of the present invention the base plate has one major planar surface thereof against which the hook member is pivotable for transportation of the connector. Preferably, the hook member has a major planar surface arranged to lie adjacent the base plate when the hook member is pivoted about a pivotal axis of the hinge to lie against the base plate.
Conveniently, another embodiment of the invention may be provided with an overcentre mechanism for holding the hook member in a direction transverse to the direction in which the major planar surface of the base plate extends. Preferably, the overcentre mechanism is mounted on the hook member. The overcentre mechanism is preferably an L-shaped arm extending outwardly from one edge of the hook member and the shorter arm of the L-shaped arm extends on the opposite side of the pivotal axis of the hinge pin to that side adjacent the one edge of the hook member from which the L-shaped arm extends.
The means located on the base plate for engaging the planar surface preferably, in an exemplary embodiment, comprises a plurality of nail-like prongs formed on the base plate arranged to extend outwardly from an opposite side of the base plate to that side thereof from which the hook member extends, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4. Each prong can be arranged to extend outwardly perpendicularly from the opposite side of the base plate.
Preferably, the prongs are regularly spaced over substantially the whole area of the base plate for maximising strength, grip and purchase of the base plate when applied to a panel of a partitioning system.
Conveniently, the base plate and hook member are interconnected by each being pivotally mounted about a hinge pin. Alternatively, the base plate and hook member can be provided as a one-piece integral construction with the hinge being an area of reduced thickness of the one-piece construction.
One of the major advantages of the present invention over the known connectors is that the task of erecting or dismantling a demountable partitioning is simplified and the overall time of completion reduced thereby. The connectors are premounted in a factory on panels, for example of sheet plasterboard, and in the mounting operation on site, the fitter merely needs to swing the hook arms into position to be ready for mounting the panel on a framework rather than assembling the two-part connector at the installation site. In addition, the use of a unitary connector is advantageous because there is then hardly any possibility of losing or damaging the hooks in transportation to the site during distribution around, or installation on, the site or when the partitioning is demounted for storage. Also, because the hook arms of the present invention preferably fold flat against the base plate, no substantial separate storage space is required for hook arms.
Commonly, two groups of four connectors are arranged in side-by-side columns and are used for securing for example a plasterboard panel of say 2.5 m by 1.2 m to the support framework. Alternatively, the panel may be of medium density fibreboard (MDF) or laminated chipboard, for example.
The above described known connector has pressed out louvre portions on its separate base plate, each louvre portion of which forms a receiving channel for a respective tongue of a fixed right angular hook member attachable on site to the separate base plate which is itself prelocated on the plasterboard in a factory prior to distribution to an installation site. These pressed out louvre portions are prone to deformation prior to assembly, i.e. during the transportation to installation site, and assembly time is often wasted because of the fitters having to bend the louvre portions back into shape to reopen the louvres by use of a screwdriver, for example, so that the tongues of the hook member can enter the respective louvres. The connector of the present invention is preferably of a planar formation without tongues and no separate nail base plate with louvres is provided, thereby avoiding the problems involved with known systems.